DEEP OXIDATIVE DESULPHURIZATION OF DIESEL USING IONIC LIQUID

Environmental concern has driven the need to remove sulphur compound in fuel. Since,
oxidative desulfurization is conducted under very mild reaction conditions, much attention has
been recently devoted to this process. In this study sulphur compound in dodecane was oxidized
by oxidizing agent. The correspond sulfone and sulfoxide are more soluble in ionic liquid and
will not recombine with fuel. Thus, this ensures for better sulphur removal performance. The
aim of this project is to study the potential of ionic liquid to remove sulphur in diesel. Three
types ionic liquid and 5 different oxidant/sulphur ratio was used to determine the optimum
system for oxidative desulphurization. The best oxidant: sulphur ratio is 5: 1, with 30% sluphur
removal. The best ionic liquid is bmim octyl sulphate, with sulphur removal up to 70%. The best
condition was then used to remove sulphur from diesel. Sulphur removal percentage of diesel
was around 50%. Based on the result obtained, bmim octyl sulphate showed a good potential as
axtractiong agent for sulphur removal from diesel.